Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Little Shop of Carnivores
Sonoma is, at heart, an agricultural region, and, as a consequence, it sup-
ports some offbeat agricultural experts you'll never find anywhere else.
One amusing stop is
California Carnivores
9
(2833 Old Gravenstein Hwy.
S., Sebastopol;
%
707/824-0433; www.californiacarnivores.com),
which
sells America's largest selection of carnivorous plants. Kids love the
pitcher plants, Venus flytraps, and bladderworts, and if you're lucky, you'll
catch a feeding (call a few days ahead if you want to be sure to catch
one—these plants don't eat very often). Proprietor Peter D'Amato is an
expert on the subject, having written the well-received book
The Savage
Garden: Cultivating Carnivorous Plants
(Ten Speed Press, 1998), and he
loves sharing his knowledge about these weird botanic oddities. So
although it's technically a greenhouse store, it's one well worth a visit and
one that will welcome and inform you.
and the resulting wines may be purchased for about $45 each, with a six-bottle
minimum. There are also a variety of do-it-yourself crush facilities where you're
walked through the blending process in much greater detail, but unfortunately
you're expected to buy in volume. Prices start at around $3,000 a barrel (or about
24 cases/288 bottles, the minimum), with around $5,000 the norm—you can't
do just a bottle or a case.
Finally, many wineries augment their regular tours with other programs
designed simply to celebrate wine. The most common events pair fine foods with
wines and are catered by chef-artists who take the opportunity to show off and
tease palates. Each winery does things its own way—you can find combo lobster
boils/tastings, straightforward how-to's, and launch parties for new vintages. Rarely
do you get enough food to fill your belly—just enough to taste. One of the least
expensive pairings (most cost $60-$120) are held at
Cakebread Cellars
(
%
800/
588-0298; www.cakebread.com; $40/30-min. sampling; reservations required)
in
Rutherford. For info on all kinds of events, go to
Sonoma County Vintners
(
%
707/522-5840; www.sonomawine.com),
a nonprofit group of winemakers
working together to promote themselves; online, it posts its members' upcoming
events for the next few months. (Its counterpart, Napa Valley Vintners, at
www.napavintners.com, isn't as good at tracking events but does include some
good general resources.)
NIGHTLIFE
Napa and Sonoma mostly shut down after sunset. People would rather go out and
have a nice meal, it seems, than brave the dark roads when it's dark, and for locals,
there's a lot of work to be done in the fields and the cellars the next day. If you're
not the type to go straight to bed after a long meal, try the following choices.
Evenings at
Bounty Hunter Wine Bar
(975 1st St., Napa;
%
707/226-3976;
www.bountyhunterwinebar.com)
are like Old Home night for the area winemakers.
They come in droves to mingle here—attitude is minimal and lips can be loose.